by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Lucy Walter, as a Shepherdess by Peter Lely; Credit: Abbotsford, The Home of Sir Walter Scott

Lucy Walter was born around 1630 at Roch Castle near Haverfordwest, Wales to William Walter and Elizabeth Prothero, from landed gentry families. During the English Civil War, the Walter family supported the royalist forces and in 1644, Roch Castle was captured by the parliamentary forces and burned. The Walter family fled and Lucy found herself in London and soon set sail for The Hague, now in the Netherlands, then the capital of the States of Holland and West Friesland as well as the seat of power of States-General of the Dutch Republic, the government of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. There Lucy Walter met Charles, Prince of Wales, the future King Charles II of England.

Charles, Prince of Wales, had traveled to The Hague, where his sister Mary, Princess Royal and her husband Willem II, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands lived. Charles hoped to persuade them to contribute financially to the royalist cause in the Second English Civil War which ultimately ended with the beheading of King Charles I of England. While in The Hague, the 18-year-old Charles began an affair with Lucy Walter.

Lucy and Charles’ son James, the future Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

On April 9, 1649, Lucy gave birth in Rotterdam, to a son named James, originally called James Fitzroy, a surname often used by an illegitimate child of a king. Charles did acknowledge the child, but some thought that Colonel Robert Sidney, a younger son of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, was the father. A DNA test in 2012 concluded that James’ descendant Richard Montagu Douglas Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch, shared patrilineal DNA with a descendant of the royal Stuarts, proving that Lucy Walters’ son, later James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, was the son of King Charles II of England. There was also a controversy over whether Charles had secretly married Lucy Walter. Their son claimed that his parents had married, but King Charles II said the only woman he had ever married was his queen, Catherine of Braganza. Charles and Catherine’s marriage was childless, but Charles had at least 15 illegitimate children with his mistresses, and James was the eldest of Charles’ children.

Charles, Prince of Wales, the future King Charles II, in exile; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1649, Lucy and Charles spent some time in Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France where Charles’ first cousin King Louis XIV reigned and had arranged a court in exile for his cousin. During Charles’ absences, Lucy had relationships with other men, including an Irish nobleman Theobald Taaffe, 2nd Viscount Taaffe who is likely the father of Lucy Walter’s second child Mary, born in Paris in 1651. Charles ended his affair with Lucy in 1651 but Lucy refused to accept this and even claimed that she was married to him.

For the next several years, Lucy was involved in one scandal after another, causing embarrassment to the English royal court in exile in France. In 1656, friends of Charles successfully persuaded Lucy to return to England with the promise of a pension of £400 a year. Her stay in England was brief. The intelligence department of Oliver Cromwell, The Lord Protector reported her as a suspected spy and ordered to be deported back to the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

Lucy resumed her extravagant lifestyle and her attempts to use her son James as a means of influencing Charles failed. In March 1658, after a failed attempt to kidnap James Fitzroy by supporters of Charles, Lucy was persuaded to give up her custody of her son. James was brought to Paris and placed in the care of his paternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France, who had returned to her home country during the English Civil War. James lived in the household of William Crofts, 1st Baron Crofts who had followed Charles into exile after the execution of King Charles I of England. While living in the Crofts household, James took the surname Crofts. In September 1658, Lucy Walter died in Paris, France, probably of venereal disease, and was buried in Paris.

King Charles II; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1662, two years after his father King Charles II was restored to the English throne, James was brought to England. In 1663, 14-year-old James was created Duke of Monmouth, Earl of Doncaster, and Baron Scott of Tinsdale. On April 20, 1663, James married Anne Scott who was the 4th Countess of Buccleuch in her own right. On their wedding day, the couple was created Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Thereafter, James used Scott as his surname but was usually called Monmouth. The couple had seven children and Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester are among their descendants.

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, circa 1683; Credit – Wikipedia

Because King Charles II had no legitimate children, upon his in 1685, his younger brother succeeded him as King James II of England. However, James asserted his claim to the throne and planned an invasion of England and Scotland. He landed at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England on June 11, 1685, and proclaimed himself king on June 20, 1685. On July 6, 1685, the armies of uncle and nephew met at the Battle of Sedgemoor where the army of James was defeated. James had left the battlefield disguised as a peasant and was discovered hiding in a ditch three days later.

James had previously been attainted of treason by Parliament on June 16, 1685, and was to “suffer Paines of Death and Incurr all Forfeitures as a Traitor Convicted and Attainted of High Treason.” Apparently, he groveled at the feet of his uncle King James II, begging for his life. James was sent to the Tower of London and beheaded on Tower Hill on July 15, 1685. It took several blows of the ax to behead him. 36-year-old James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Lucy Walter. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Walter> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2014. James Scott, 1St Duke Of Monmouth. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/april-9-1649-birth-of-james-scott-1st-duke-of-monmouth-illegitimate-son-of-king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Fraser, Antonia, 1979. King Charles II. London: Phoenix.
• Nl.wikipedia.org. 2020. Lucy Walter. [online] Available at: <https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Walter> [Accessed 12 September 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

Mary Boleyn was the elder sister of Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, King Henry VIII’s ill-fated, second wife. The date and place of Mary’s birth are uncertain. She was born sometime between 1499-1500, either at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, England or Hever Castle in Kent, England. Anne’s father was Thomas Boleyn (later 1st Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond, 1st Viscount Rochford), a diplomat for King Henry VII and King Henry VIII. He was descended from Eustace II, Count of Boulogne who fought for William the Conqueror during the Battle of Hastings. “Boulogne” eventually was anglicized to “Boleyn.” Mary’s mother was Lady Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Elizabeth’s eldest brother was Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, a prominent Tudor politician, and one of her other brothers was Lord Edmund Howard, the father of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s fifth wife. Through her mother, Mary was a descendant of King Edward I of England.

Mary had four siblings but only two survived childhood:

• Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (circa 1501-1507 – 1536), married King Henry VIII of England, had one surviving child, Queen Elizabeth I of England
• George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 1536), married Jane Parker, no children; George was executed as one of his sister Anne’s supposed lovers and his wife Jane was executed with Henry VIII’s fifth wife Catherine Howard

Hever Castle where Mary grew up with her siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary was most likely educated with her brother George and her sister Anne at Hever Castle in Kent. In 1514, when Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII’s 18-year-old younger sister, left for France to become the third wife of the 52-year-old King Louis XII of France, Mary Boleyn accompanied her as a maid-of-honor. Within a few weeks, most of Mary Tudor’s English ladies were ordered to return home. However, Mary Boleyn was allowed to stay most likely due to her father’s diplomatic influence.

King François I of France; Credit – Wikipedia

King Louis XII of France died on January 1, 1515, just three months after his wedding to Mary Tudor. As he had no son, he was succeeded by the next in line of succession, his son-in-law François d’Angoulême from the House of Valois-Angoulême as King François I of France. Shortly after King Louis XII’s death, Mary Tudor secretly married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, the best friend of Mary Tudor’s brother King Henry VIII. When Mary Tudor and Brandon returned to England to face the wrath of her brother, Thomas Boleyn removed his daughter Mary from the service of Mary Tudor and placed her in the household of Claude of France, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France, the wife of the new king, François I. During Mary’s time at the French court, there were rumors that she was having an affair with King François I. Some historians believe the rumors were exaggerated, however, there is documentation that François referred to Mary as “the English mare” and “a very great whore, the most infamous of all.”

Sir William Carey, Mary’s first husband; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1519, Mary was sent back to England where her father arranged for her to be a maid-of-honor to Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII’s first wife. On February 4, 1520, in the Chapel Royal at Greenwich Palace, Mary married Sir William Carey (circa 1500 – 1528), who served King Henry VIII as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. King Henry VIII attended the wedding ceremony and gave the couple a monetary gift.

King Henry VIII of England in 1520; Credit – Wikipedia

At some point, perhaps even before her marriage, Mary became Henry VIII’s mistress, supplanting Elizabeth Blount, but the starting date and length of the relationship are unknown. Wiliam Carey profited from his wife’s affair as he was granted manors and estates by King Henry VIII. Two children were born during the marriage of Mary and William. Because of Mary’s affair with King Henry VIII, it has been suggested that one or both of the children may have been Henry VIII’s biological children and although there is no proof, this claim has been the continued subject of debate. On June 22, 1528, at the age of 28, William Carey died of the sweating sickness. By the time of William’s death, Mary’s sister Anne had already caught the attention of King Henry VIII.

Mary’s daughter Catherine Carey, circa 1562; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s son, Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, circa 1561-1563; Credit – Wikipedia

Children born during the marriage of Mary Boleyn and William Carey:

• Catherine Carey (1524 – 1569), married Sir Francis Knollys, had fifteen children including Lettice Knollys, the second wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, the favorite of Elizabeth I. Catherine was a maid-of-honor to Henry VIII’s fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, and was the Chief Lady of the Bedchamber to her first cousin Queen Elizabeth I.
• Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (1526 – 1596), married Anne Morgan, had sixteen children. Henry was Lord Chamberlain of the Household of his first cousin Queen Elizabeth I and patron of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s company of actors.

Although Anne Boleyn refused to be Henry VIII’s mistress, she still wielded some power. William Carey had left Mary with considerable debts and so Anne decided to help out. Henry VIII granted Anne Boleyn the wardship of her nephew Henry Carey and Anne then arranged for him to be educated at a Cistercian monastery. Anne also interceded to secure her Mary an annual pension of £100.

In 1532, Mary was in the party of the 200 people who accompanied King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to France to meet with King François I of France so that the French king might show his public support and approval for the annulment of Henry’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Also among the party was William Stafford, a soldier and the younger son of Sir Humphrey Stafford, an Essex landowner.

With her connections to King Henry VIII’s court and being the eldest daughter of Thomas Boleyn, who was by then 1st Earl Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormonde, and 1st Viscount Rochford, Mary had excellent prospects for a second marriage. However, in 1534, Mary and William Stafford secretly married. When Mary became pregnant, the marriage was discovered. Mary’s sister, now Queen Anne, was furious, the Boleyn family disowned Mary, and the couple was banished from court. It is thought that Mary gave birth to a son sometime in 1535 and that he died in 1545. There may also have been a daughter named Anne.

Because Mary’s financial situation was so poor after she and her husband had been banished from court, she begged Thomas Cromwell, then Henry VIII’s principal secretary, to speak to Henry VIII and her sister Anne on her behalf. After Henry VIII showed no interest in her situation, Mary asked Cromwell to speak with her family but they remained steadfast in their prior decision to disown Mary. It was Anne who finally relented and provided her sister with some financial support but she refused to reinstate Mary to her position at court. It is thought Mary and Anne never met again.

Mary’s sister Anne Boleyn, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The situation of Queen Anne herself quickly declined. When Anne gave birth in 1533 to her first child, a daughter Elizabeth, Henry VIII was greatly disappointed. By late 1535, Anne was pregnant again. However, during a tournament in January 1536, Henry fell from his horse and was unconscious for hours. The stress resulted in premature labor, and Anne miscarried a son. The loss of this son sealed Anne’s fate. Henry was determined to be rid of her, and her fall and execution were engineered by Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s chief minister. Many historians believe that the case charging Anne with adultery with her brother George Boleyn and four other men (Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton, and Mark Smeaton) was completely fabricated. Her trial, presided over by her uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, occurred at the Tower of London on May 15, 1536, and she was found guilty of adultery, incest, and high treason. On May 18, 1536, Anne’s brother and the four other men were executed and Anne was executed the following day.

Very little is known about Mary’s life between 1534, when she was banished from court, and the executions of her brother George and sister Anne in May 1536. There is no record of Mary visiting or writing to her parents. She did not visit her sister or brother while they were imprisoned in the Tower of London and there is no evidence that she wrote to them. Like her uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Mary must have thought it wise to avoid any connection with her disgraced relatives.

Rochford Hall, now the clubhouse of the Rochford Hundred Golf Club; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her parents (mother in 1538 and father in 1539), Mary inherited some of the family’s estates in Essex, England including Rochford Hall. She lived there for the rest of her life, in better financial circumstances, with her husband William Stafford, who survived her and married again. Mary died of unknown causes, on July 19, 1543, in her early forties and her burial place is unknown.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mary Boleyn. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Boleyn> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. William Stafford (Courtier). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stafford_(courtier)> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. William Carey (Courtier). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carey_(courtier)> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• Erickson, Carolly, 2004. Great Harry. London: Robson.
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Anne Boleyn, Queen Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/anne-boleyn-queen-of-england/> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2015. King Henry VIII Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-henry-viii-of-england/> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• No.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mary Boleyn. [online] Available at: <https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Boleyn> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• Weir, Alison, 2001. Henry VIII – The King And His Court. New York: Ballantine Books.
• Weir, Alison, 2012. The Six Wives Of Henry VIII. [United States]: Paw Prints.

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Dorothea Jordan was the mistress of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom from 1790 until 1811. William was the Duke of Clarence at the time.

Dorothea Jordan; Credit – Wikipedia

Dorothea Bland was born on November 21, 1761, in County Waterford, Ireland, the daughter of Francis Bland, a stagehand, and his mistress Grace Phillips, an actress. She had five siblings:

• George Bland (c.1758-1807) – married Maria Theresa Romanzini, had issue
• Hester Bland (1760-1848) – unmarried
• Lucy Bland (c.1763-1778) – unmarried
• Francis Bland (c.1765 – ?) – unmarried
• Nathaniel Phillips Bland (c.1766-1830) – married Phoebe James, no issue

In 1774, Dorothea’s father abandoned his family to marry someone else. He continued to support the family, on the condition that they didn’t use his surname, so Dorothea took her mother’s name, becoming known as Dorothea Phillips. Around this time, her mother encouraged Dorothea to enter the theater, and within just a few years, she began to draw large crowds for her performances. She left Ireland in 1782 while pregnant with her first child, and moved to Leeds. It was at this point that she took the name Jordan. She performed for three years with the York Company, before being lured away in 1785 to move to the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane in London. By then, Dorothea was becoming a very popular performer and could be counted on to bring large crowds every night. It was at Drury Lane that her life would come to the attention of The Duke of Clarence several years later.

During her stage career, and before meeting the Duke of Clarence, Dorothea had several relationships, resulting in at least four children. In the early 1780s, she became involved with Richard Daly, the married manager of the Theatre Royal in Cork, and had a daughter:

• Frances Daly (1782-1821) – married Thomas Alsop, no issue

Other lovers included an Army Lieutenant, Charles Doyne, who proposed to her but she declined. She went to work for a theater company run by Tate Wilkinson, with whom she also had a brief affair. It was then that she took on the stage name ‘Mrs. Jordan’. After that relationship ended, she fell in love with another actor, George Inchbald, but that relationship also ended in heartbreak.

In 1786, after leaving Inchbald, Dorothea began an affair with Sir Richard Ford, a magistrate and lawyer who promised that he would marry her. This relationship resulted in three children:

• Dorothea Maria Ford (1787) – married Frederick March
• unnamed son (1788) – died at birth
• Lucy Hester Ford (1789) – married General Sir Samuel Hawker, had issue

Dorothea realized that Ford would not marry her, and she ended their affair in 1790.  Soon after that, she began her relationship with The Duke of Clarence, the son of King George III. Her children moved in with her sister Hester, and Dorothea transferred much of her savings to provide for the children’s upbringing and education, in addition to providing them with an annual allowance.

The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV); source: Wikipedia

In 1790, Dorothea was first noticed by The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) while performing at Drury Lane. They quickly began an affair that would last for the next 21 years. Dorothea moved in with the Duke at his home, Clarence Lodge in Roehampton, and later they moved to Bushy House in Bushy Park, Richmond upon Thames.

King William IV and Dorothea Jordan had ten children. Nine of the ten children were named after nine of William’s fourteen siblings. The tenth child was given William’s middle name Henry. The children were given the surname FitzClarence.

• George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster (1794 – 1842), married Lady Mary Wyndham, had issue
• Henry FitzClarence (1795 – 1817), unmarried
• Sophia FitzClarence (1795 – 1837), married Philip Sidney, 1st Baron De L’Isle and Dudley, had issue
• Mary FitzClarence (1798 – 1864), married General Charles Richard Fox, no issue
• Frederick FitzClarence (1799 – 1854), married Lady Augusta Boyle, had issue
• Elizabeth FitzClarence (1801 – 1856), married William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll,  had issue, King Edward VII’s granddaughters Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife and Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk and British Prime Minister David Cameron descend from this marriage
• Adolphus FitzClarence (1802 – 1856), unmarried
• Augusta FitzClarence (1803 – 1865), married (1) The Honorable John Kennedy-Erskine, had issue; married (2) Admiral Lord Frederick Hallyburton, no issue
• Augustus FitzClarence (1805 – 1854), Sarah Elizabeth Catharine Gordon, had issue
• Amelia FitzClarence (1807 – 1858), married Lucius Bentinck Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland, had issue

The children of King William IV and Dorothea had an elder half-brother, William Henry Courtney, born around 1788 to an unknown mother, and named after his father whose given names were William Henry. Dorothea cared for William, and she was fond of him and he was fond of her. William served in the Royal Navy from 1803 until 1807 when his ship HMS Blenheim was lost in a gale off Madagascar. Despite an extensive search, no trace of the ship was ever found. 590 men were lost aboard HMS Blenheim, including King William IV’s eldest illegitimate son nineteen-year-old William Henry Courtney.

William ensured Dorothea was well taken care of, providing her with an annual allowance of £1,200 and allowing her to continue performing on the stage in London and around England. Aside from her career, Dorothea was very content to enjoy the family life she had always wanted and kept out of political matters completely.

William and Dorothea’s children married into the British aristocracy and their many descendants include these notable people:

• Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, a granddaughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1891 – 1959)
• Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk, a granddaughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1893 – 1945)
• Violet Jacob, Scottish writer (1863 – 1946)
• Brigadier General Charles FitzClarence, recipient of the Victoria Cross (1865 – 1914)
• Sir Edward Bellingham, 5th Baronet, Brigadier General, Senator of the Irish Free State (1879 – 1956)
• Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, British diplomat, Cabinet member, author (1890 – 1954)
• Sir Rupert Hart-Davis, British publisher and literary editor (1907 – 1999)
• William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L’Isle, 15th Governor-General of Australia (1909-1991)
• Adam Hart-Davis, author, photographer, broadcaster (born 1943)
• Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll, member of the House of Lords (born 1948)
• John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute also known as Johnny Dumfries, former racing driver (1958 – 2021)
• David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1966)

By 1811, William was pressured by his family to find a suitable wife. At the time he was fourth in line for the throne following his elder brother, the future King George IV, George’s daughter, Princess Charlotte of Wales, and his next oldest brother, The Duke of York. William gave in to the pressure and ended his relationship with Dorothea, but again made sure she was very well provided for. He gave her an annual allowance of £4,400 (half of which was designated for the welfare of their children), and she kept custody of their daughters while he retained custody of their sons. The one condition he insisted upon was that to receive that money annually, she could not return to the theatre. This arrangement lasted just three years before Dorothea returned to the stage in 1814, to earn money to help settle the extensive debts of her son-in-law Thomas Alsop. Hearing this, William took back custody of their daughter and canceled her annual stipend.

Dorothea performed for just a year before retiring in 1815. Still in debt, she sold her house and moved to France to escape her creditors, settling in Saint-Cloud, just outside Paris. After losing much of her savings when her eldest daughter and her husband ran up large debts in Dorothea’s name, her health quickly began to decline. Virtually penniless, Dorothea Jordan died in Saint-Cloud, France on July 5, 1816, at the age of 54. She is buried in the local cemetery in Saint-Cloud.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Possible portrait of Elizabeth Blount; Credit – https://conorbyrnex.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/a-portrait-of-bessie-blount-c-1500-1539/

The only mistress of King Henry VIII of England who had a child acknowledged by him, Elizabeth Blount, also known as Bessie Blount, was born circa 1498 at Kinlet Hall in Kinlet, Shropshire, England. She was one of the eight children of Sir John Blount of Kinlet Hall (circa 1471 – 1531) and his wife Katherine Peshall. Elizabeth’s siblings were George, William, Henry, Anne, Rose, Isabel, and Albora but their birth order is unknown. Little is known about Elizabeth’s childhood but she was probably educated by her mother and other female members of the household.

Effigies of Elizabeth’s parents on their tomb at St John the Baptist Church in Kinlet, Shropshire, England; Credit – By Mike Searle, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80988191

Elizabeth’s family had close connections with the Tudor family. Elizabeth’s maternal grandfather fought on the side of Henry Tudor (the future King Henry VII and the father of Henry VIII) at the Battle of Bosworth Field where King Richard III of the House of York was defeated and killed. Elizabeth’s great-grandfather Sir Richard Croft was the steward of the household of Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Henry VII, at Ludlow Castle, and one of Arthur’s most important advisors. Elizabeth’s uncle, Sir Humphrey Blount, was a Knight of the Body (personal attendant) to King Henry VIII. Elizabeth’s father was one of Henry VIII’s King’s Spears at the time of his coronation. The King’s Spears were fifty men of noble birth who served as mounted bodyguards for King Henry VIII. It is most likely through her father’s influence that Elizabeth found a place at court.

Henry VIII, circa 1520; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1513, Elizabeth, around 15-years-old, came to Henry VIII’s court as a maid-of-honor to his first wife Catherine of Aragon and she quickly became one of the court’s beauties. She could sing and dance well and became a favorite of Henry VIII’s courtiers. In October 1514, she was mentioned in a letter to Henry VIII from his good friend and brother-in-law Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The letter infers that Henry and Brandon were partners in “flirtations” with Elizabeth and so it is probable that she became Henry’s mistress in 1514 or 1515. Their affair lasted for about five years.

On June 15, 1519, Elizabeth gave birth to Henry VIII’s child, a son named Henry Fitzroy, with FitzRoy, a Norman-French surname meaning “son of the king”. FitzRoy had been conceived when Catherine of Aragon was approaching what would be her last confinement and resulted in a stillborn daughter in November 1518. To avoid scandal, Elizabeth was taken to the Augustinian Priory of St. Lawrence in Blackmore, Essex, England for her confinement.

Fitzroy’s birth came at a crucial time in his father’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon as a few months before Catherine had given birth to the last of her six children, a stillborn daughter. The future Mary I, Queen of England, born in 1516, was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Fitzroy’s birth proved to Henry that he could father a healthy male child and convinced him that Catherine was at fault for the lack of male heirs.  There was talk in the early 1530s that Henry VIII, who then had no male heir, would legitimize Fitzroy so he could succeed his father.

A miniature of Elizabeth and Henry VIII’s son, Henry Fitzroy, at the age of 15; Credit – Wikipedia

Fitzroy is thought to have been cared for in the royal nursery with his half-sister Mary. He was given his own London residence in 1525, the same year he was created the Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Fitzroy was also given numerous titles such as Lord High Admiral of England, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Lord President of the Council.

Henry VIII likely asked Cardinal Thomas Wolsey to arrange a marriage for Elizabeth, and sometime before June 1522, Elizabeth married Gilbert Tailboys. Elizabeth’s second child, a daughter named Elizabeth, had been born sometime between July 1519 and June 1520, before she married Gilbert. This child’s father possibly was Henry VIII. However, Gilbert Tailboys recognized little Elizabeth as his child, and therefore, biological or not, she was considered to be Gilbert’s by the law.

After Gilbert’s marriage to Elizabeth, his financial situation dramatically changed. Gilbert was given grants of land in Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire. Over the next several years, he was a gentleman of the king’s bedchamber, High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, a member of Parliament for Lincolnshire, and was created 1st Baron Tailboys of Kyme. Elizabeth’s marriage to Gilbert lasted until April 15, 1530, when he died, aged 33. All of Gilbert’s children succeeded to his title but as none of them had any children, the title became extinct upon the death of his daughter Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and Gilbert had one daughter and two sons:

• Elizabeth Tailboys, 4th Baroness Tailboys of Kyme (circa 1520 – 1563), married (1) Thomas Wymbish of Nocton, no children (2) Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, no children
• George Tailboys, 2nd Baron Tailboys of Kyme (1523 – 1539), married Margaret Skipwith, no children
• Robert Tailboys, 3rd Baron Tailboys of Kyme (1528 – 1542), unmarried

Elizabeth’s second husband Edward Clinton, 9th Baron Clinton; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly after her first husband’s death, Elizabeth married Edward Clinton, 9th Baron Clinton, who was fourteen years younger than Elizabeth and owned land that adjoined Elizabeth’s land. Edward was in the service of Henry VIII and his three children during their reigns and was created 1st Earl of Lincoln in 1572.

Elizabeth and Edward had three daughters:

• Lady Bridget Clinton (circa 1536 – ?), married Robert Dymoke of Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire, had ten children
• Lady Katherine Clinton (circa 1538 – 1621), married William Burgh, 2nd Baron Burgh of Gainsborough, had two children
• Lady Margaret Clinton (circa 1539 – ?), married Charles Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby of Parham, had five children.

In 1533, Elizabeth’s son Henry Fitzroy married Lady Mary Howard, a daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of Henry VIII’s wives. Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn arranged the marriage. Fitzroy died on July 23, 1536, at the age of seventeen, likely of tuberculosis. He was buried at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Framlingham, Suffolk, England, the burial site of the Howard family.

Elizabeth outlived her eldest son by three or four years. Very little is known of her life after the death of her son but it appears that Elizabeth died in childbirth, or shortly after giving birth, sometime between February 6, 1539 and January 2, 1540, at the age of only forty or forty-one. Her burial site burial is unknown.

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Works Cited

• Bryson, Sarah, 2016. Elizabeth (Bessie) Blount By Sarah Bryson – The Tudor Society. [online] The Tudor Society. Available at: <https://www.tudorsociety.com/elizabeth-bessie-blount-by-sarah-bryson/> [Accessed 31 July 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elizabeth Blount. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blount> [Accessed 31 July 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Henry Fitzroy, Duke Of Richmond And Somerset. [online] Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_FitzRoy,_1st_Duke_of_Richmond_and_Somerset> [Accessed 31 July 2020].
• Erickson, Carolly, 2004. Great Harry. London: Robson.
• McMahon, Emily, 2013. Henry Fitzroy, Duke Of Richmond And Somerset. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/june-15-daily-featured-royal-date/> [Accessed 31 July 2020].
• Weir, Alison, 2001. Henry VIII – The King And His Court. New York: Ballantine Books.
• Weir, Alison, 2012. The Six Wives Of Henry VIII. [United States]: Paw Prints.